The Fallen of NCIS
by TheBreakfastGenie
Summary: The afterlife. Kate is bored. But hopefully the mysterious new redhead will make it more interesting! Probably a two-shot. Not to be taken seriously. May mention violent death but hopefully not graphic enough to warrant a K .


Part I: Meeting Jenny

Kate yawned and stretched. Being dead was really boring. She was happy to see the red-haired figure walking towards her in the misty distance. Looks like another NCIS agent didn't quite make it out. Kate had been here for a long time, three years now.

About halfway through Paula had shown up, right after her team did, but Kate and Paula didn't talk much. They hadn't known each other too well and Paula preferred to hang out with her own agents anyway. Chris Pacci was the only one there when Kate arrived, and he'd already been there almost two years. Chris had welcomed Kate when she showed up, and offered his condolences, but he mostly kept to himself and wasn't much company. A few years alone in the afterlife could do that to you.

Apparently everyone in this particular afterlife was connected to NCIS, and none of them were dirtbags or, Kate suspected, there would be a lot more people here. She didn't think all NCIS agents came either, but she couldn't figure out the rule explaining who did and who didn't.

Most irritatingly, contrary to popular, widely-accepted belief, the dead could not watch what was going on in the world of the living. Which meant you had to wait for someone else to kick off and bring you some news. Paula, unfortunately, hadn't been very close to the team the last couple years, so while she was good for general info, she couldn't exactly give Kate specifics. All she knew was that Ari killed her, big surprise there, and that he was dead. Even bigger surprise. Gibbs hated the guy enough before he killed one of the team.

Kate was desperately hoping this new woman would have more information for her and was anxiously awaiting her arrival. The redhead was almost there now so Kate ran over to meet her.

The first words out of the woman's mouth were "Why the hell am I wearing this?" as she gestured to her black NCIS jacket.

"Yeah, for some reason we all end up in NCIS jackets after we die. Although I think the rest of us actually died in ours. At least you kept your heels!" Kate said with a friendly smile. The redhead laughed. "I'm Kate by the way, and you are?"

"Jenny," she said firmly. She figured the afterlife was a fairly informal place, and she wanted it that way. Jenny shook Kate's hand. "Kate Todd. You were on Gibbs' team," Kate smiled.

"I was. Do you have any news on them? I heard I was replaced by an Israeli,"

"Ziva. She's good for them, Kate. They're doing okay," Jenny decided to leave out the parts about Tony getting framed for murder, McGee shooting a cop, and almost getting Tony killed through her personal vendetta for a while. She couldn't hide everything though.

"So, Paula said something about Gibbs being in an explosion?" Kate asked. "The Gibbs I remember wouldn't get hurt that badly, ever. Something you can fill me in on?" Jenny grimaced. She knew they'd come to this but had hoped it would be later rather than sooner.

"Yes, a terrorist planted a bomb in an oil drum on a ship Gibbs was on. He was in a coma for a while, and when he woke up he had forgotten the last fifteen years. He didn't even recognize Ducky," _Or me_, Jenny silently thought, but didn't speak it aloud. She wasn't ready to reveal her connection to Gibbs just yet.

"Oh my God... amnesia?" Kate asked. She assumed the memory loss hadn't been permanent, otherwise Jenny would have told her. Or so she hoped.

"His neurologist didn't think so. It seemed to be a psychological repression."

"What the hell happened to Gibbs that made him forget over a decade of his life?" Jenny looked sad.

"His marriage. And his child," she said softly.

"Gibbs had a kid? I heard about his marriages, but-" Jenny held up a hand.

"You knew about three of his marriages, Kate. There were four."

"Four? But he said-" Jenny held up her hand again.

"He lied, I suppose. The memories were painful, he'd do anything to avoid talking about it. His first wife and his daughter were murdered,"

"Oh my God..." Kate whispered. Jenny wasn't finished.

"Ziva was able to trigger his memories by talking about you, actually, and her brother, at least that's what she said. But after that explosion, Gibbs was... different. He wasn't himself. He quit, you know. Retired, he always insisted. At least he tried to. I interfered with his paperwork being filed correctly, and after a couple months, he was back." Jenny smiled at the memory.

"Wow..." Kate breathed. "But, I'm confused about one thing. What does Ziva's brother have to do with any of this?"

"Her brother killed you, Kate. You were killed by Ari Haswari," the last part Kate knew but she ignored it.

"I was replaced by my killer's sister?" Kate asked, incredulous.

"Half-sister, technically, but yes. Ziva's a good woman, Kate. She wasn't helping her brother. In fact... I have reason to believe she was involved in his death. I wasn't privy to the conversation, but she was part of some plan. Gibbs didn't know she was his sister at the time," Kate was still taking all of this in when Paula wandered over.

"Hey Kate. Oh, hi, Director. I wasn't expecting to see you here so soon," Kate almost choked. Jenny merely smiled.

"Here, it's Jenny, Paula," she replied, and Paula smiled.

"Good to see you, Jenny."

"Hold on a minute!" Kate yelled. "_Director_? As in, the Director of NCIS?"

"Guilty. Jenny Shepard, late NCIS Director," Jenny smiled. Kate still couldn't comprehend this.

"I heard we had a new Director... I had no idea... This entire time I've been talking to my Director..." Kate trailed off.

"Kate, it's okay. I didn't want annoying formalities. I'm dead, for God's sake!" Kate smiled.

"Well, it is about time we got a female Director," Jenny returned the smile but only briefly.

"I doubt we'll have one now. Weren't many ready for the job."

"Guess we'll have to wait for someone else to get killed and tell us who your replacement is," Paula chimed in. "So, how'd you die?"

"Shoot-out. Diner in Los Angeles. Four of them, one of me. I think I got some of them though. I didn't exactly get to stick around to find out if they died," Jenny sighed.

"I didn't realize shoot-outs were part of the Director's duties," Kate noted, confused. Jenny smirked.

"They're not. I was tying up loose ends, trying to protect someone. I still don't know if I succeeded," Jenny's face turned wistful. She quickly changed the subject. "So, Kate. You were shot in the head. By a sniper,"

"I think we all know that story. Who killed you, Di-Jenny? It was a shoot-out, you would have seen them, right?" Jenny tried to avoid Paula's question.

"They were hired. By a woman I was supposed to kill. I didn't. She was after the team who took out her partner. I was on it," this time Kate asked the question.

"When?"

"1999. Paris," Jenny added, anticipating the next question.

"Paris... I should have guessed," Paula was smirking. "Paris. How many times did I hear 'what do you think Paris is all about?'" Jenny was shocked.

"You knew about Paris?" Paula's grin widened.

"Please. I knew DiNozzo. Of course I heard about Paris. Gibbs' team always was good at being nosy. I only knew two people who were even better at hiding stuff from them. Gibbs, and you. Explains DiNozzo's Paris fixation. I always wondered who he was talking about. I picked up that the guy was Gibbs, of course. I never suspected you," Kate's jaw dropped.

"Of course! I thought your attitude seemed awfully familiar! Gibbs. You knew him. Well. Which means before you were Director."

"He was my partner. He trained me," Jenny smiled at the memory. Paula snorted.

"Uh huh. I'm betting more than that, if DiNozzo has any idea what he's talking about, and, I hate to admit it, I think for once DiNozzo's ri-"

"STOP!" Kate shrieked, suddenly agitated.

"What's wrong, Kate?" Jenny asked, her voice suddenly filled with concern.

"Nothing, it's just..." seeing it was a lost cause to pretend Paula's words hadn't bothered her, Kate relented. "Those were the last words I heard before I died. I got shot, in the chest, I was taking a bullet aimed at Gibbs. Secret Service training, you know? I was the protection detail. I got shot but I was wearing a vest. We were joking around, once they knew I was okay, then Tony said I did a good job, and Gibbs said 'for once, DiNozzo's right!' and I said I thought I'd die before I ever heard him say that and the next thing I know I'm finishing my sentence walking up that path," Kate pointed in the direction Jenny had come from.

"It's alright, Kate," Paula comforted. "Your death was sudden. We both had time to reflect," Kate smiled gratefully.

"Come on, girls," she said, "it's been a long day. And Jenny still hasn't seen most of the afterlife, not that there's much to look at."

"I have noticed that it seems to resemble a giant elevator..." Jenny noted, as the three woman walked off.

*phoof*

**A.N.: I have most of a second chapter written but I don't plan on going beyond that. This has been sitting on my computer for ages. So, expect one more chapter hopefully sometime soon. This was written to entertain me and is very weird and possibly also incredibly stupid. Hopefully you enjoyed it anyway.**


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